Kerf-cutting machine



Nov. 13, 1951 l.. E. TOPHAM ET A1.

HERF- CUTTING MACHINE v original Filed Feb. 14, 1945 Y 5 Sheets-Sheet l 1 [Iwan fors l @arjr t R62 Gross L. E, TOPHAM ET AL Nov. 13, `1951 KERF-CUTTING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 14, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 amm www ,In/UU wia P. vz. :WELKE VPP UP GO r@ Po -\R mn.

Nov. 13, 1951 L. E. TQPHAM ETAL 2,574,672

KERF-CUTTING MACHINE i Original Filed Feb. 14, 1945 5 Sheet's-Sheret 3 In ven fr@ awe/20e E. Top/mm @c2/re zfz P5. @P035 NOV. 13, y1951 L, E; TQPHAM ETAL 2,574,672

KEW-CUTTING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 14, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 In vn fr@ au/"m06 E. opham GGPP@ t R i @P066 Patented Nov. v13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KERF-CUTTING MACHINE Original application February 14, 1945, Serial No. 577,750. Divided and this application July 13, 1948, Serial No. 38,514

4 Claims.

This invention is related to the art of making individual foreparts and heel parts of jointed lasts of the type described in our U. S. application Serial No. 577,750, filed February 14, 1945 (now Patent No. 2,535,465, granted December 26, 1950). The present application is a division of our former application identified above.

The whole problem envisaged by the invention includes boring a master hole widthwise through a rough block, generating a joint surface on one end of the block, cutting a heightwise kerf in the joint end of the block, establishing a turning axis in a certain precise relation to the joint surface, the master hole and the heightwise kerf, and thereafter utilizing the joint surface to locate the block in a desired relation to a copying lathe and to rotate the block about its turning axis.

The present application is concerned more especially with means for cutting the heightwise kerf in the joint end of a block and with means for locating the kerf in a precise relation to lthe master hole, the joint surface, and what will eventually be the turning axis of the block, since the kerf is destined to play a part in locating the block widthwise in the copying lathe.

The primary purpose of the kerf above mentioned is to accommodate a link by which a forepart and a heel part may be connected with each other. In some lasts the configuration of the kerf must provide one or more minor recesses in which an element of hardware may have clearance for movement. Therefore, the apparatus hereinafter described and claimed includes novel features and improvements by which an operator may control a kerf-cutter selectively according to various predetermined requirements and thereby cause it to cut kerfs of various configurations each of predetermined length and con figuration.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents a top plan View of an apparatus designed and equipped to prepare forepart blocks for subsequent turning in a copying lathe;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the kerf-cutter as viewed from a plane indicated by line II-II in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 represents a forepart block after it has been prepared by the apparatus represented in Fig. 1, the kerf therein having simple configuration and no supplemental recess or heightwise extension;

Fig. 4 represents an end elevation of the joint end of the block represented in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 represents a side elevation, partly in section, of the joint portion of a forepart block in 2 which a kerf has been extended heightwise above and below its primary limits;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of mechanism for locking the cradle by which the kerf-cutter is carried, the carriage by which the cradle is carried, and the carriage by which the work is carried to and from the station where the kerf-cutter operates;

Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation of structure included in Fig. 2 but viewed from the opposite side;

Fig. 7a is a sectional elevation of a control included in Fig. 7 and occupying the same position as in the latter;

Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of a trip mechanism represented in another relation in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 represents the structure of Fig. 7 as when the kerf-cutter is fully advanced (to the left) and cutting the deepest part of a kerf Fig. l0 represents the same structure as when the kerf-cutter is retracted to an intermediate position and latched; and

Figs. 9a and 10a are sectional elevations of a control in different positions corresponding to Figs. 9 and 10, respectviely, it being the control otherwise represented in Fig. 7a.

Typical examples of kerf-cutting with the apparatus hereinafter described are illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, in which a rough-hewn forepart block II is provided with a master hole l2 and a joint surface including a semi-cylindrical hinge surface I3 and a stop shoulder I4 below it. The hole I 2 extends widthwise through the block and is open at both ends. Its primary purpose is to provide bearings for an anchoring pin (not shown) by which a link may be used to couple the forepart and a heel part of a hinge last in the manner illustrated in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,094,118, granted September 28, 1937.

The lierf I5 extends heightwise of the block II and intersects the hinge surface and theuhole I2 to provide a space in which a portion of a coupling link may be installed. A broken line I8 (Fig. 3) indicates the approximate location of a saw-cut by which some of the surplus wood of the block will be severed, and the broken lines I'I indicate the shape of a forepart to be generated in a copying lathe. A kerf of the shape and proportions represented in Fig. 3 may suflice for some coupling links, but the hardware with which some lasts are equipped may require the kerfs to be further extended above the hinge surface or below it, or both above and below it, as represented in Fig. 5.

The organization represented in top plan view in Fig. 1 includes a at horizontal bed 29 constituting a stationary support, a rotary powerdriven shaft 2| (vertical axis) journaled therein, a formed cutter 22 aixed to the shaft and located above the bed, parallel rails 23 and 24 afxed to the bed, a work-carriage 25 guided along a straight path by the rails, work-holding means mounted on the carriage 25, a stop 26 for arresting the carriage 25 at an operating station where it will hold a rough work-block I at station B in the path of a power-operatedV kerf-cutter 2, a motor 28 for driving the kerf-cutter, a cradle 2e on which the cutter 2'| and motor 28 are'mounted, a cutter-carriage 35, and other elements hereinafter described.

The work-carriage 25 stands at its loading position in Fig. l where it will hold a work-block at Station A. The work-holding means includes a pair of alined trunnions 3i, 32, a clamping bar 33 and other elements by which a block may be clamped heightwise while the trunnions 3|, 32 occupy the hole l2 in the block. The trunnion 32 iscarried toward and from the trunnion 3| by a clamping member 34 to which clamping movementymay be imparted by a lever 35 and a connecting link 36.

The aXis of the trunnions 3|, 32 is parallel with the straight path of the carriage 25 along which a work-block is transferred from station A to station B. The block is thus carried widthwise past the formed cutter 22 by which a joint surface is generated thereon (Figs. 3, 4. and 5). An ad- -justable screw 31 carried by the carriage 25 is arranged to cooperate with the stop 25 to arrest theY carriage when the block arrives at station B.

To provide for locking the work-carriage at its operating station, a toothed locking bar 3B is affixed to the carriage, and cooperative locking pawls 39 `and 40 (Fig. 6) are installed in a fixture 4| fastened to the bed 29. The pawls are connected to the xture by pivot pins 42 and are initially retracted from the path of the bar 38 by a ram 43. Spring followers 44 are arranged to shift the pawls to their locking positions when the ram 43 is retracted by a compression spring 45. The ram 43 isconnected to an operating arm 46loosely'mounted on a rockshaft 4l. One purpose. of the rockshaft is to feed the kerf-cutter toward the work and retract it therefrom, but it also operates the arm with which it has a lostmotion connection. For the latter purpose a collar 5l)Y affixed to the rockshaft is provided with a lug 49 that initially restrains the arm 46 by engaging a shoulder 49 thereof (Figs. 6 and 7). As the kerf-cutter advances, the lug 49 recedes from the shoulder 43 after the work-carriage 25 has been locked at the operating station corresponding tostation B of a work-block.

The cutter-carriage 39 is constrained to an inclined path at extending right-angles to that of the Work-carriage 25 by a frame 5| fastened tothe bed 25, one of its margins (Fig. l) being arranged in a guiding groove in the frame and itsopposite margin being provided with a straight bar 52 arranged in bearings in the frame and adapted to slide therein (Figs. 2, 7 and 10). The bar 52 is provided with gear teeth 53 forming a rack, and these are meshed with a pinion 54 affixed to the shaft 4l. A hand-lever 55 (Figs. l, 2 and 7) fastened to this shaft enables an operator to move the cutter-carriage along its inclined path toward and from the workcarriage. A kerf of the form represented in Fig. 3 may be produced without rocking the cradle 29 on thetrunnions 55 by which it is mounted on the carriage 39. An adjustable stop 51 is provided to arrest downgrade travel of the carriage 39 according to the desired depth of the kerf to be cut.

When the cutter-carriage is retracted to its initial position (Figs. 1, 2 and 7) it is automatically latched by a shoulder 6i) of a latching arm 6|. The arm is connected to the frame 5| by a pivot pin 52, and is biased by a spring 63 that normally holds it against a latching block 64 fastened to the carriage. The cutter-carriage is thus initially restrained from sliding downgrade, but it may be released from the latching arm` in consequence of being retracted slightly upgrade as represented in Fig. 8. Such retraction causes the block |54 to engage a camming surface 65 of the arm and to deflect the latter far enough to remove the shoulder 59 from the path of the block, also far enough to place the tip of the arm 6| under a retaining shoulder S5 of a trigger Bl. The latter is connected to the frame 5| by a pivot pin 69 and is biased toward the arm 6| by the spring 53. Once the arm 5| has been placed under restraint of the trigger 6l the operator may use the hand-lever to retard the travel of the carriage 30 toward the work and-thereafter. to accelerate penetration of the work by the kerf-cutter which, as illustrated in. Fig. 2', is a well-known type of chain-saw.

Before the. cutter-carriage is arrested' by the stop 5l, the latching block 64. will. strike the trigger 5l (Fig. 9) and displace it to trip the latching arm 9|. The downgradev traverse of the cutter-carriage will produce a kerf I5 of the configuration represented in Fig. 3, and if no elongation of the kerf is needed the operator will retract this carriage, without interruption, to its initial position by moving the hand-lever 55 reversely to the position represented in Fig. 'T'.

As the rockshaft 4'| (Fig. 7) turns counterclockwise to advance the cutter 21 toward the work, it rst permits the pawls 39 and 4U (Fig. 6) to lock the work-carriage 25, and thereafter permits the arm 46 to remain'still while the lug 49 recedes from the shoulder 48 (Fig. 9).

If, after feeding the cutter 2'| into a block to cut a kerf l5 of the desired depth, the operator wishes to elongate the kerf above or below its initial limits (Fig. 5) he may do so by rocking the cradle 29 on its trunnions4 5G. It may be desirable to withdraw the cutter part away from the kerf. before rocking the cradle, the chief consideration on this score being the requirements of the hardware to be installed in the last. As herein represented, the latching arm 6| is provided with a latching shoulder 'i9 with which the block 54 will cooperate to latch the carriage 30 (Fig. 10) at an intermediate station in its path of travel, where it willV be restrained from sliding downgrade while the cutter projects some distance into the kerf.

The mechanism for'. rocking the cradle 29 includes (Fig. 1) a hand-wheel 1|, a shaft 72, a disk 73 (Figs. 6 and '7). carriedby the shaft, a crankpin 'i4 carried by the disk, a lever l5, a link 16 connecting the crank-pin and the lever, a rod'` 'il axed to the cradle, and a sleeve I8 connecting the lever and the rod '11. A fulcrurn-pinv 'I9 supports the lever '15, and a pivot-pin 80 connects the lever and the sleeve 18. A locking bolt 8|, biased by a compression spring 82, is normally pressed against the disk 13. When the bolt is seated against the surfaces forming a V-shaped notch 83 in the disk it thereby maintains the lever at an intermediate position in which the rod 11 is parallel with the path of the carriage 30. The rod 11 may then slide through the sleeve 'I8 without rocking the cradle 29.

The bolt 8l is effective also to lock the cutter-carriage 30 in consequence of being thrust into a socket 84 in a sleeve 85. This sleeve is fastened to the shaft 41 and is so placed that the socket will be in register with the bolt (Fig. 10a) only when the cutter-carriage is at the position corresponding to the location of the latching shoulder 16 (Fig. 10). Then, if the hand-wheel 1| be rotated, one surface or the other of the V-notch 83 will act on the bolt with the effect of a cam and thereby shoot the bolt into the socket 84. The cutter-carriage will thus be locked and will remain locked until the cradle is returned to its median or initial position. One complete revolution of the hand-wheel will elongate the kerf as represented in Fig. 5 and finally permit the spring 92 to retract the bolt from the socket 84. The operator may then retract the cutter-carriage to its initial position (Fig. 7) where the latching shoulder 60 will again take control. During this final stage of retraction the shaft 41, turning clockwise (Fig. 10), will carry the lug 49 to the shoulder 48 and thereafter cause the ram 43 to retract the locking pawls 39, 40. It will also carry the socket 84 (Fig. 7a.) out of register with the bolt 8| and cause the sleeve 85 to lock the train of mechanism by which the cradle 29 is actuated. The two trains of mechanism for feeding the cutter-carriage and the cradle, respectively, are arranged to be locked alternatively by the bolt 8| only when each occupies a predetermined position, and each, in turn, governs the locking effect of the bolt on the other.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An apparatus for operating on a last-part block, the apparatus comprising means for holding such a block, a cutter-carriage, a support on which said carriage and the holding means are movably mounted, means for moving the carriage toward and from a work station, a cradle movably mounted on the carriage, a planar kerfcutter mounted on the cradle, actuating means engageable with the cradle for moving the cutter in translation in its plane and toward or from the carriage to elongate a kerf in which the cutter is situated, and locking means mounted on said support including a member interposed between and engageable with one or the other of the respective means for moving the carriage and the cradle to lock them alternatively and to unlock each of them when locking the other.

42. An apparatus for operating on a last-part block, the apparatus comprising a frame, means on said frame for holding such a block, a carriage, a kerf-cutter on said carriage for movement therewith toward and from the block holding means, means on said frame by which said carriage isguided, a spring-biased latching member mounted on the frame and engageable with the carriage to prevent advancing the latter from a primary retracted position, and a spring-biased trigger mounted on the frame and engageable with said latching member to catch the latter in a retracted position, the carriage and said latching member having cooperative camming surfaces by which the latching member is retracted from its latching position and placed under restraint of said trigger in consequence of retracting the carriage beyond said primary retracted position, the trigger being movable from biased position by the carriage to trip the latching member as the carriage advances from said primary retracted position.

3. An apparatus for operating on a last-part block, the apparatus comprising a frame, means mounted on the frame for holding such a block, a carriage, a kerf-cutter on said carriage for movement therewith toward and from the block holding means, means on the frame by which said carriage is guided, a spring-biased latching member connected to the frame and engageable with the carriage to preveni-J advancing the latter from a retracted position, and spring-biased means mounted on the frame and engageable with the latching member when the latter is in an inoperative position and thereafter, when the carriage is advanced, displaceable by the latter to trip the latching member.

4. An apparatus for operating on a last-part block, the apparatus comprising a frame, a workcarriage provided with means for holding such a block, a cutter-carriage provided with a cutter for cutting a kerf in a block so held, means mounted on the frame for guiding said work-carriage to and from an operating station, means mounted on the frame for guiding said cutter-carriage toward and from said station, a manually movable member mounted on the frame, and two means mounted on the frame each having operative connection with said member, one movable into the path of the Work-carriage for engageably locking said work-carriage at said station and the other being operatively connected to.

said carriage and actuable by the member for moving said cutter-carriage.

LAURENCE E. TOPI-IAM. GARRETI P. S. CROSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 156,611 Westwick Nov. 3, 1874 843,322 Bontenakels Feb. 5, 1907 1,460,678 McNichol July 3, 1923 1,638,122 Jull Aug. 9, 1927 1,669,500 Topham May 15, 1928 1,691,519 Hutchinson Nov. 13, 1928 1,952,270 March et al. Mar. 27, 1934 1,956,835 Roemer May 1, 1934 2,030,141 Fitzpatrick Feb. 11, 1936 2,343,243 Roemer Mar. 7, 1944 2,367,850 Dusevoir Jan. 23, 1945 

